1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fishing equipment, and in particular to a fishing rod caddy.
2. Background of the Invention
Rod fishing is a popular sport pursued by millions each year. After use in salt water, fishing rods must be rinsed in order to prevent corrosion by the salt. An on-going problem is the absence of an effective way to hold fishing rods in order to rinse them off with a hose, and subsequently to hold them while they dry. In addition, it would be desirable to provide an apparatus to store and transport the fishing rods between uses.
Other considerations in the design of a rinse-off fishing rod holder are light weight (to make it easily transportable), and a material which is resistant to mold, such as nylon, plastic, or synthetic. Wood tends to hold water, which lengthens the fishing rod drying process. Built-in handles would also be useful to facilitate transportation.
Finally, slots inside the fishing rod caddy sized to admit tackle box trays, and space inside the caddy to accommodate a throw net bucket, would increase the utility of the fishing rod caddy.
Existing Designs
A number of designs have been proposed for boxes which are capable of supporting fishing rods. One approach has been to affix rod holder(s) to an enclosed box which is also used for other purposes. Exemplary among these are U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,052,020, 7,650,713, and 5,331,761 granted to Wurtz, Peede and Kuthy respectively. While these taught fishing rod supports, the fact that the supports depended from containers used for other purposes rendered them inappropriate for use as fishing rod holders while rinsing of fishing rods with fresh water, because water and salt runoff from the fishing rods could enter and foul the interior of the containers supporting the rods. In addition, no drainage holes were taught allowing the runoff to emerge from the containers, nor receptacles for tackle box trays or a throw net bucket.
Churchill was granted U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,699 for an ice fishing implement caddy, which disclosed supports for jigging rods. This design also disclosed a closed box base, which if used to spray down fishing rods would fill with spray water and salt runoff from the rods, fouling and flooding the contents of the box in the process. In addition, no drainage holes were taught allowing the runoff to emerge from the containers, nor receptacles for tackle box trays or a throw net bucket.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a fishing rod caddy which is appropriate to hold fishing rods while rinsing off the fishing rods after use, which incorporates drain holes for water runoff, which is constructed of material which is light-weight and does not absorb water, which has built-in handles, a bucket receptacle, and slots which admit tackle box trays.